Not Again
by Queen-Deb24
Summary: After losing two people he loves at the hands of one man, Brax vows never to let it happen again.


_**Hi :)**_

_**What a sad few weeks of H&A we've had!**_

_**Here is my spin.**_

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_After losing two people he loves at the hands of one man, Brax vows never to let it happen again._

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Casey died in his arms.

In _his_ arms.

His little brother Casey died in the arms that were meant to love and protect him. The arms that loved and protected him for so long until suddenly, they weren't enough anymore.

Casey was gone and the mere minutes it took for Casey to leave him were some of the longest of Brax's life.

"What are you doin' out here?" Cheryl's voice broke in to Brax's thoughts.

If he were to answer truthfully, he was avoiding the group inside the house. Brax wasn't one to grieve in a group, he'd always dealt with things his own way. Ricky, Phoebe, Josh, Andy and Kyle had been inside for hours and now Cheryl, Heath and Bianca had just arrived back in Summer Bay. The news of Casey's passing brought all three with overnight bags to Brax's house. How everyone was supposed to fit and sleeping arrangements weren't problems worth figuring out yet. There was a more important conversation looming.

Hence the avoiding.

Brax had spent most of the night with the police. His record spoke for itself and the questioning took hours. Before he was taken to the police station Brax had told Kyle to get in contact with Heath. Brax couldn't bear the thought of the news of Casey's death reaching his bother via other means. Heath and Bianca had made the immediate trip to see Cheryl and give her the tragic news about her youngest son.

Now they all wanted answers. So did Brax!

Brax knew that neither Kyle nor Andy knew the severity of Casey's death. Losing his brother in any situation would have been bad enough but knowing it was at the hands of Jake Perovic brought a fury, unlike anything Brax had ever felt, pulsing through his body.

What Casey died from was common knowledge and the news would no doubt spread through the Bay quickly the next day.

Brax wasn't looking forward to the conversation of Casey's death and who was responsible.

"I wanna know what happened Darryl?" Cheryl spoke again ignoring the fact that her eldest hadn't answered her first question. Cheryl wasn't stupid, there was a lot that needed explaining.

"Let's go inside aye?" Brax said, moving away before Cheryl had the chance to respond.

Despite the number of people inside, the house was silent.

Heath stood as soon as he saw Brax and the brothers held each other tightly for a moment, sharing in their heartbreak.

"How did this happen?" Heath asked as soon as Brax released him. "Out of all of us, for Casey to be… It's just unreal. This wasn't supposed to happen!" Heath's voice ended on a shout.

"Jake Perovic," Brax answered flatly. There was no point in skating around the issue. Heath and Bianca would be the only ones in the room who knew just who Jake Perovic was.

"What?"

"You heard me Heath, Jake Perovic. He shot Casey. The bullet was meant for me but it hit Casey"

"How?" Bianca

"How?" Brax repeated. "How doesn't matter."

"No," she cut him off and avoided everyone's eyes but the eldest Braxton's. "Not how did it happen, how is he _out_?" Bianca asked, her voice cracking.

"What do you mean, out?" Josh asked confused but the question was ignored.

"I don't know," Brax answered his tone softened slightly in response.

"Wasn't he the one who…?" Cheryl stopped mid sentence when her eldest nodded his head.

"What? The one who what?" Phoebe asked.

"He killed Charlie," Heath answered.

"Your girlfriend?" Andy asked quietly.

Brax again nodded as he ran hands through his hair as a means of keeping in control.

"I guess it all leads back to her and that mess then doesn't it? If you had…" Cheryl spat suddenly startling everyone in the room.

"Do not even think to blame this on her or me," Brax interrupted quietly and deliberately.

The whole dynamic in the room changed immediately.

"She ruined your life and now Casey's. You were supposed to protect him! This would never have happened if you would have just..."

"She ruined my life, mum? Did she? Really?" Brax roared, exploding from the chair. Andy made a move to step in front of Brax as if to block his wrath but was pushed to the side easily.

"Darryl..." Cheryl started not fazed by Brax's rage.

"She ruined my life huh," Brax interrupted, "because last time I checked mum, she was buried in the ground." Brax yelled, feeling Ricki's eyes on him.

"She had nothing to do with this," he finished firmly hating the way that he couldn't bring himself to say her name.

"She shot his brother!"

"To protect me!"

"Yeah and when you were supposed to protect her, you failed. Just like you failed Casey."

"Enough," Bianca intervened quietly but firmly. "This isn't helping."

"She's right," Brax said, speaking to himself but everyone in the room heard him clearly.

"Brax, don't listen to her, she's grieving. She didn't mean it," Ricki tried to say.

Cheryl scoffed and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I couldn't protect Charlie. I couldn't protect Casey. When it comes to Jake, it's 2-0."

"Well it's 2-1 when you think about it… but I get what you're saying so I'm shutting up," Heath murmured, speaking before his mind registered what he was saying.

"I want to find him," Brax said a plan forming already the faces of his past love and youngest brother at the forefront of his mind.

"No, Brax, don't let him win, Brax," Ricky begged. "Just stay here. You need to be here right now with your family."

"Let him win, he's already won!" Brax yelled. "He won long before this, Ricki. He took Charlie from me, hell that was enough, but now… Casey…. I'm gonna kill him!"

"Brax think about this, you just lost Casey. You need to be with your family right now," Ricky begged.

"You can stay her and grieve or do whatever the hell it is that you think is going to make everything better but there's only one thing I can think of that's going to make it better for me."

"What are you gonna do Brax?" Ricki asked Brax trying to make eye contact but failing.

"Heath, are you in?" Brax asked ignoring his girlfriend.

"You don't even have to ask Brax, you know it!" Heath answered firmly, Bianca squeezed his hand in her own tightly. She knew that this was something that Heath had to do regardless of how it made her feel. Casey was his blood, his brother.

"Kyle?"

Kyle nodded in response.

Brax turned to where Andy sat,

"I'm in, whether you're asking or not, I'm in!"

"Good! I'll tell you what is gonna happen, whether you're in or you're not or if you change your mind, I don't really care. What's gonna happen is we're going to find him. But then that's it for you boys. The rest, I'll handle. He's not going to get another chance to hurt someone I love, not again.

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_**What do you think? **_

_**Please review if you can, thank-you in advance. **_

_**This whole storyline has sparked a potential new CHAX story… interested? I miss them so much :)**_

_**Thank-you for reading.**_

_**xoxox**_


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